Black Roses
by PetalClaw
Summary: When Melissa Chikaya, a girl from District 11, is picked to participate in the Hunger Games, she's in it to win it. But when she meets a girl from District 1, named Raine Atkinson, she falls for the other girl of whom she is meant to kill. Can they both leave the arena, or will one of them have to die?
1. Chapter 1: The Reaping

"It's gorgeous, Amelia." I carefully place the flower crown on my head. It's made of black and red roses, with daisies weaved in the small, empty areas of it. She also took her time to cut the thorns off. I stroke it gently, careful not to pull off or wreck anything. "I want you to wear it to the reaping, Melissa." She whispered, holding onto my arm.

I smiled and stroked back her thick, black hair. "I will, I promise." I hugged her. I had a very large chance of being chosen to go the Hunger Games – we had signed up for loads of Tesserae using my name. We needed the Tesserae to feed our family.

There was a clutter from our kitchen. "Oh no, Yasmeen." I quickly got up, and held my flower crown as I ran inside to see my youngest sister digging around our cupboards. "Sard!" She exclaimed, looking at me with her wide, brown eyes. I'm pretty sure she was referring to my sword, the one I used during the harvest.

"Aww, my little munchkin!" I pinched her right cheek. "That isn't a toy, I use it to get the tough fruits." I made a sawing motion with my hand. I forgot to mention, I'm from District 11. The peacekeepers were kind enough to let me use a sword to get the tough fruits – the ones that were really hard to pick. I was very weak, so getting them would be a tough challenge for me.

My bigger brother, Haroon, came through the door. He was too old to participate in the games, but got us sorted for the reaping every year. He laughed and picked up Yasmeen. "You lot get ready for the reaping. Melissa, I bought you a new dress." He placed Yasmeen on the couch, and reached behind the couch to get out a gorgeous, silky, black dress with a laced, white collar. The dress reached my knees.

"It looks like something they would wear in the 2000's, Haroon." I laughed, and took the dress. "It's stunning. I love it." I flung it over my shoulder and hugged him. "I'm off to get changed and do my hair. Be back in a couple of minutes." I added and ran to my bedroom to quickly get changed. Haroon usually sorted my little sisters himself, since they either didn't know how to do their hair themselves, or didn't know how to put on a dress. They weren't old enough to get reaped, but we were allowed to bring them to see it. To see their fellow friends being called to their deaths by a simple piece of paper.

After 20 or so minutes, I emerged from my room. I left my hair down, but obviously brushed it. My hair is really long, and curly, but not as curly as Amelia's hair. I kept the flower crown on, and I must say, it went really well with my new dress. I wore some "ugg boots" too, ones that were covered in black fur, and had white, artificial fluff on the inside. Took forever to save up for them, but I wear them wherever I go. I love them.

Yasmeen ran up and hugged my waist, rubbing her cheek against the silk and making satisfied noises. Amelia gasped. "You look beautiful." She said, joining in the hug that Yasmeen started. Haroon peeked around the corner. "Look who's ready for the reaping." He looked at my dress and smiled. "Knew it would fit you. Look at my suit!" He came out and was wearing a very business-like suit. I laughed.

Yasmeen and Amelia looked really cute. Yasmeen wore a slightly fluffy, white dress, and two braids, tied with a white ribbon. She had slipper-like shoes, with rhinestones that were starting to fall off. She had insisted on wearing her favourite panda hat, too. The little panda hat had two dot-like eyes, encircled in black. One of the ears was falling apart but she didn't notice.

Amelia had my old dress – it was cream-colored and laced all over, and fell to her ankles. Her shoes were like mine, too, except they were white. Her hair was down, but she had a hairband in that looked like it was woven out of daisies. We quickly left our house and headed down the the centre, where the reaping was held every year. I adjusted my crown and prepared for a very boring speech.

After the miserable story of how Panem came to be, well, Panem, our escort, Aanisah Khan, came on stage. She had her usual, generic black dress that had no decoration at all. She also wore black high heels. "Alright, time to pick out the names." She scanned the crowd and smiled kindly. "We'll go boys first this year." She put her hand in the glass ball and felt around a bit before fishing out a piece of paper. "Our boy tribute this year is – Quasim Ali!" She called out clearly so the whole crowd could hear her. A large boy who looked around 15, stepped onto the stage. He was a bit skinny, but had visible muscles. His hair was short, but not almost-bald short.

"Alright, time for the ladies!" She announced, and once again plunged her hand into the glass ball before yanking out another name. My heart almost stopped and I felt like the world had frozen all around me.

"Melissa Chikaya!"


	2. Chapter 2: The Train

I held back tears as I walked toward the stage. It seemed like forever until I was at the side of Quasim. Aanisah then called our mentor on stage. A young lady walked gracefully up onto the stage and shook hands with us. She looked like she was in her 30's and she didn't seem to be damaged by drugs or alcohol. She wore a turquoise dress and reached her shins, and shoes like Yasmeen's, only grey. Her hair was in a high bun. It was very hard to believe she had participated in the Hunger Games – she had no visible scars and looked very gentle.

She walked up to the microphone, and started speaking. Her voice was smooth and her accent was beautiful. "Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls. I present to you, Quasim Ali and Melissa Chikaya, our hopeful victors for District 11." She walked away, and sat down, crossing her legs, getting a loud applause from the crowd. Aanisah turned to us and smiled. "May the odds be ever in your favour!" She cheerfully said, although we all knew, deep down, the odds have never been, and never will be, in our favour.

The crowd soon broke up, and we headed to the important building that the tributes go to – gosh, I can't remember it's name – and we sit down. I put my face in my hands and let out a huge sigh. I look over at Quasim. He didn't seem to be coping well either. He was constantly wiping tears from his eyes and I quickly stop looking before he notices, for I'm pretty sure he'd feel like crap if somebody saw him crying. I know I would. I sniff and adjust my posture. I have no makeup to smear if I cry like our escort might, but I don't want to appear weak. For all I know, Quasim might have it in for me. Not like I look threatening.

Amelia comes running in, sobbing and sniffing and wiping her snot on her dress. Yasmeen seems really distressed due to Amelia and is clutching Haroon very tightly. Haroon is also crying, but not wiping his snot on his outfit like Amelia is. "Melissa, please don't die, please Melissa!" She manages to cry out between splutters and gasps for air. She latches herself onto my leg and I stroke her hair as she soaks my dress with tears, but I don't care.

Yasmeen lets out a shark squeal as she starts trying to grab for me. Haroon puts and down and she hobbles over. She reaches my other leg and started jumping, indicating she wants me to lift her. I lift her and place her on my lap. Haroon wipes away his tears. "You must promise you're going to try and win, Melly." I can feel hot tears rolling down my cheeks, and I squeeze my eyes shut. "For us, Melissa. Please." He sobs. I nod, and open my eyes. I can see Quasim's family comforting him, too.

I dry my tears and take Yasmeen off my lap. Amelia's sobbing has quietened down now. "I promise I will try, you three." I managed to force out, and then something clicks inside my head. It's a weird feeling, like a sudden burst of adrenaline. "I'm not going to _try _and win, I _am _going to win." I looked Haroon straight in the eye. He cracked a smile. "That's my Melly."

Amelia had overheard this and smiled, no, grinned at me. Yasmeen gurgled and hit her panda hat off my seat a couple of times. I touched my flower crown, surprised that it was still on my head. I looked at Amelia and smiled. "Amelia, can I take this as my token into the arena?" I asked her in the voice I use when comforting somebody – not that what I was asking was comforting, or maybe it was.

"Yes, please! That would be so cool!" She jumped up and down. I smiled, and just at that moment, Aanisah walked though. "Alright, my future victors, time to board the train." Aanisah rubbed her hands together and smiled. I got up and waved at my family, adjusting the flower crown on my head so it didn't fall off too easily. Quasim hugged his mother and father, and walked out of the door. I turned around, smoothed out my dress and headed out.

We eventually reached the train that would be taking us to the Capitol. We boarded and I sat down, my eyes trained on a spot that stained the seat. Thoughts ran through my head, like what weapon I should use. I was absolutely rubbish at throwing anything, so a spear was out of my league. I also didn't know how to fire an arrow, so a bow wasn't an option either. Then I remembered – swords are available. I knew how to handle one, and I knew how to inflict damage with one.

I looked out of the window to see unfamiliar surroundings – although not quite like the Capitol. Maybe some place in my district that I have never been to. After all, it can be a big district both population-wise and area-wise. I looked at Quasim, who rested his head on his right hand. I decided to speak to him. "Hey Quasim." His eyes moved to me, and he waved, turning his head and cracking a small smile. "How are you?" I asked, smiling back. He shrugged and looked down.

At first, I was confused as to why he wasn't saying anything at all. Then I realised why.

Quasim was a mute.


End file.
